Defense against overbilling lawyers

Goal or Problem

Sometimes (and hopefully not often) you may need services of a lawyer/attorney. Lawyers are generally expensive. Unfortunately, some of them also overbill their clients. How can you defend yourself against such behavior?

You can point out inconsistencies in the invoice and ask for a corrected invoice. But what if the lawyer threatens that he will drag you to the court because you owe him money?

Idea

You can file a complaint against overbilling by the lawyer with a disciplinary agency of the Bar association (or a similar professional organization) where the lawyer is a member. The Bar Association will investigate your complaint.

If you are right, the lawyer may get a fine or get suspended for a certain period of time. And, of course, you will have to pay the lawyer an amount for his services that the Bar Association determines as correct.

How to proceed in the dispute about the invoice? With the invoice (or as a part of it), there should be an itemized list of deeds that the lawyer made together with time he spend on this. Study the itemized list carefully. Look for any discrepancies, such as:

• Does the time you spent with the lawyer correspond with the billed time? For example, are you billed for a meeting that did not take place or are you billed for more time that a meeting with the lawyer actually took?
• Is the billed time for a routine deed reasonable? For example, did it take too much time (several hours) to write a standard letter?
• Did your lawyer involve another lawyer? Did he charge you for time of the other lawyer without consulting this with you first?

If you have some evidence that makes you believe that the lawyer overbilled you, write a letter to the lawyer. Explain why you think that overbilling took place. Send the letter by registered mail or by fax in order to have a proof that you acted regarding the invoice and did not simply decide to ignore it.

There are two possible responses. The lawyer either agrees or disagrees with your complaint. If he agrees you will receive a corrected invoice for a smaller amount. Check again carefully the corrected itemized list of services. If there are still discrepancies, complain again. If the lawyer disagrees and you think you have enough evidence to prove that you are overbilled, send him another registered letter or fax stating you intention to file a complaint with the Bar Association.

Again, there are two possible responses. The lawyer may correct the invoice because generally the lawyers prefer not to be investigated by the Bar Association for overbilling their clients. If he does not correct the invoice, you can file the complaint. Attach the copy of the correspondence between you and the lawyer. Be prepared to pay a fee for the complaint to be processed. Most probably, this is less than one hour of your lawyer’s services.

Limitations and Side Effects

Filing the complaint, investigation and fees may differ per country, state, province etc. Before you enter a dispute about overbilling, research the rules specific to your location.

References

DIRECTORY OF LAWYER DISCIPLINARY AGENCIES (USA, Australia, Canada, UK, France)